Manchester United new boss Erik ten Hag has made Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong a priority signing, and a €65 million deal has reportedly been agreed between the clubs too.

However, De Jong has disagreed on an exit from the club.

Barca say they don’t want to sell, but feelers from the club actually say Barcelona are ready to cash out on the midfielder.

Reports claim that one of De Jong’s main insistence for not leaving is based on his deferred wages.

De Jong took a pay cut to help the club out during the pandemic times, on the provision that he would earn back that money over the next couple of seasons.

This means if he were to leave this summer, De Jong would stil be owed the money he is entitled to.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has now commented on the De Jong situation.

“Frenkie de Jong is our player, we really like him,” Laporta told ESPN.

“We received some offers for Frenkie but we didn’t accept as of now, as we want to talk with him and know exactly what he wants. We need to clarify some aspects of his situation.”

Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez has been accused of playing De Jong out of position in order to force him out of the club.

De Jong has now played in an unfamiliar centre-back role in his second-straight friendly match, and the Dutchman formed a pairing with Gerard Pique against Real Madrid.

Xavi has however insisted that he’s not forcing De Jong out by playing him in defence.

“Putting him [Frenkie de Jong] as a central defender is not a message [for him to leave]. We want the central defenders to divide their responsibilities. Frenkie is important to us,” Xavi told the media after the game.